


In The Storm

by Wallwalker



Series: Our Haven [7]
Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Canon Disabled Character, Comfort, F/M, Mid-Canon, PTSD, Rare Pairing, Storm - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-07
Updated: 2014-08-07
Packaged: 2018-02-12 06:37:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2099307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wallwalker/pseuds/Wallwalker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She had forgotten just how loud storms could be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In The Storm

She had forgotten just how loud storms could be.

Costa del Sol had been a ghost town a few hours ago, as still and as quiet as any snowscape except for the odd hammering of some old resident hammering boards over their windows. _It’s gonna be a bad one_ , one of the locals had said when she’d gone asking around. _Take my advice and stay in town for a night, you don’t want to be out there when this hits!_

Tifa was used to loud noises. She’d learned to sleep through the background noise of Midgar under the plate, gunshots and clanging metal and screaming and Barret’s occasional snores. But the rain that fell on the roof made a peculiar buzzing sound that was almost soothing, and she would get lost in it… until the lightning flashed through the shuttered windows and the thunder boomed.

She must’ve been used to this once, she thought, getting out of bed, slipping her feet into thin hotel slippers. She must’ve slept before she came to Midgar, even if she couldn’t remember how. But she wasn’t going to sleep well that night, so she fastened her robe and stuffed her PHS module into a pocket, and quietly left the room.

Barret’s room was two doors down, and she padded her way down in the dark. The fixtures that lit up the walls were dead, but still slightly warm to the touch: a recent power outage, or a shutdown. But his room wasn’t completely dark; she could see a faint flicker of light under the door.

She lightly checked the door and felt the knob turn, but caught herself before opening it; Barret’s reactions were hit-or-miss when it came to handling surprises, and tonight was likely to be a miss. Instead she pulled out the module and sent him a quick message, hoping he’d be able to hear it buzz.

The door opened almost at once, and she saw him standing in his sailor suit, sweat beading on his forehead and damp patches under his arms. “You okay?” he asked, sounding slightly breathless. Behind him she could see four candles flickering on an end table.

“I’m fine,” she said. “Just couldn’t sleep.”

“Heh.” He brushed his sleeve over his forehead. “Yeah. I get that.”

He gestured for her to come in, and she slipped by, letting him close the door behind her. She took in the rest of the room at a glance and saw throw rugs turned askew and out of place, the bed still made and only slightly rumpled. A handful of magazines fell scattered across the floor and the straight-backed wooden chair, showing nature panoramas or candid shots of animals on their slightly crumpled pages. “Oh, Barret,” she said, shaking her head.

The thunder boomed again, but as it died she could hear his bitter chuckle. “Shit, I know… how am I gonna raise my girl to love the Planet when I can’t even handle a little storm, right?”

“I don’t think this counts as a _little_ storm,” she said, doing her best to smile. “Maybe you can start with something that's less noisy.”

“Hope so.” He sat down on the bed. “I ain’t getting any sleep til this is over,” he continued, staring ahead at the wall. “I ain’t even gonna try. Can’t close my eyes, without…” He stopped, shook his head. The thunder cracked again, and she could see him twitch along with it, shuddering as the echos faded.

At first she’d been curious about the things he said when he was stressed like this. But after living in Midgar for a while, she’d learned not to ask her friends about the things they didn’t want to talk about. So she grabbed the chair and pulled it over to the bed. “Let’s hope it’s over soon, then,” she said. “We’ll be leaving tomorrow, most likely. Unless this blows the whole town down, of course.”

That got a little smile out of him, at least. He reached out and held out his hand, let her take it. She wrapped her fingers around his thumb and examined them, the tiny scars on the back of his hand and the way his fingers shook with the thunder. “Wonder if that would really be enough?” he said idly, his tone a bit warmer than before.

She could feel some of the tension easing out of him, as he leaned back against the wall. “Let’s hope we don’t find out.”


End file.
